Tuesday, December 28, 2010

BISI BELA BATH

So As I said, I started blogging my kitchen adventures to share with all of you :-)) Today I prepared this bisi bela for dinner.

The name Bisi bela bath is a Kannada phrase, which literally means "Hot Lentil Rice", as in Kannada, Bisi means hot, bela means Lentils and bath means a dish made of rice.

It is also known as Bisi bele huliyanna. The traditional preparation of this dish is quite elaborate and involves the use of spicy masala, thoor dal, and vegetables.
Spices like nutmeg, hing, curry leaves and tamarind pulp used in its preparation contribute to the unique flavour and taste of this dish. It is served hot and sometimes eaten along with salad, papad (appalam) or potato chips.

This dish is commonly found in restaurants that serve the Udipi Cuisine.

I am very fond of this wonderful rice as I were in bangalore for almost 6 wonderful years. Bangalore is truly a heaven for me as it has lots of food courts, upahar sagars, temples , parks, groceries all with less than 5 min walking distance from my home in Banashankari 2nd stage.

Ingredients:-

Toor dal - 1/2 cup

Rice - 1 cup

Pearl Onions - 150 gms

Ash gourd - 100 gms

White pumpkin - 100 gms

Carrot - 100 gms

Beans - 100 gms

Brinjal - 100 gms

Cauliflower - 4 to 5 florets

Tamarind - size of a small lime

Mustard - 2 tsp

Cashewnuts - 20 gms

Jaggery - 1 tsp(powdered)

I also used just one spoon of soaked green gram dhal, kala channa and black urad dal.

For Powder :-

Mustard seeds - very little

Chana dal- 1Tb Spoon

Urad Dal- 1Tb Spoon

Asafoetida - 1/2 tsp

Fenugreek seeds - 1 tsp

Coriander seeds - 3 tbsp

Dry Coconut(Copra) - 1 Big

Dry red chillies - 10 to 15 (Btw I didnt add as I want my son to taste my dish)

2.Wash rice and dal. Place them separately in 2 containers, add a pinch of turmeric powder . Before adding vegetables, pour little oil in a pan and just fry the vegetables starting from pearl onion for a minute or two and then add them along with rice to the presssure cooker for only 2 whistles.
3.After 15 mins, Open the lid & put some more water to the vegetable dal for the right consistnecy & keep it to boil & Add tamarind juice and salt to taste and mix thoroughly.

4.Heat little ghee and fry cashewnuts until golden brown in color. Add to the rice along with powdered ingredients and masala powder. Then add the jaggery too.

5.Add rice & mix well & simmer the stove for 5-8 mins.

6.Heat little oil, mustard, Hing & curry leaves .

7.Mix well with the Bath Remove from fire. If you like ghee, add just before serving.

If you feel like the consistency is not good, then add some more water and let it cook for 2 more minutes to get the proper consistency.

Just for safer side, I always prepare arachu vita sambar separately when preparing bisibela bath. What I used to do is if the consistency is not coming properly, I add some sambhar(arachu vita sambar) into the rice to get the desired consistency. Luckily today I got a very good consistency :-)